Kelly Cooper, School of Social Sciences and Professions’ Dean, dedicates some thoughts to Lynn as she accepts the award ahead of retirement
Date: 12 August 2024
Emeritus status recognises retired professors for their outstanding academic careers, key contributions to their field, and dedicated service to their university. This honorary title acknowledges Lynn's leadership, commitment to students, and the excellence of her work, and allows her to retain certain academic privileges in retirement.
Kelly Cooper, Dean of London Met's School of Social Sciences and Professions, presented Lynn with her award on Wednesday 31 July. The presentation took place at a special graduation ceremony held at the Barbican for students who had completed their qualifications at one of the University's partner organisations.
Kelly Cooper's graduation speech
Today we want to celebrate Professor Lynn Dobbs, our much loved, retiring Vice Chancellor with the distinguished title of professor Emerita.
Emeritus/Emerita titles are bestowed on professors at the end of a lifetime and career of achievement. Emerita, in Lynn’s case, is our recognition that the title of professor, when granted for someone of both visionary leadership and outstanding record, is a lifetime distinction.
A Professor doesn’t retire; a professor becomes Emerita. Lynn can now proudly call herself 'professor emerita of London Met' for the rest of her life, just as she has been able, since February 2018, to call herself a Freeman of the City of London!
My name is Kelly Cooper, and I am the Dean for the School of Social Sciences and Professions, and I am honoured to deliver this address. For me Lynn is the true embodiment of the values of London Met. From her easy authentic welcome of ‘hello darling’ when she greets you, to her dogged and fierce enactment of our commitment to social justice and equity.
Lynn, a pioneering higher education leader, has used her lived experience to be a champion for social justice. Lynn joined London Met as Vice-Chancellor in 2018 having spent 30 years of her distinguished career at Northumbria, Newcastle and Roehampton universities.
As Lynn has said, the London Met Governing Board took a chance on a little, working-class Geordie woman. We are all so glad they did choose Lynn, because under her leadership the university has gone from strength to strength.
Lynn knew we needed to transform London Met's finances to invest in our students and staff. The strategy she put in place has doubled our income and returned us to a surplus, enabling substantial reinvestments in academic programmes, research, digital infrastructure, and student services – making sure every penny spent improved our university not just today, but for generations to come. More importantly, Lynn’s lived experience reflected the experience of many students and staff here today. Lynn applied to university – the first in her family and the first from her estate, as a mature student with young children and she flourished. This followed work for the Newcastle Tourist Board.
Lynn went on to build an impressive career in social policy and as a part time, then full-time, lecturer in Politics and Policy. Coming from Roehampton University where she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Lynn described being Vice-Chancellor of London Met as her dream job.
She has been our dream Vice Chancellor – who has brought our values and our commitment to the transformative power of education to life. Highlights include Lynn’s championing of our Centre for Equity and Inclusion, our Race Equality Strategy, our partnership with the Historically Black Colleges and Universities and our London Labs but most importantly a Strategic Plan that combined ambition, financial sustainability and commitment to social justice.
Our success is more than just a feeling, we can see it in our data. During the pandemic, when most universities saw sharp declines in student satisfaction, 82% of our students said they were satisfied with their experience at London Met. Last year, a leading higher education magazine placed London Met 15th in the country for the overall satisfaction of our students.
One area of important progress is closing degree awarding gaps. Since 2018/19, we've reduced the overall gap between White students and those from minoritised backgrounds, including an 8% reduction for Black students and a 5% reduction for Asian students. These achievements lay the foundation to eradicate the gap entirely, reflecting our commitment to equity and inclusion. Staff have always been committed to our social mission, but under Lynn’s leadership we also found a new joy in our work. 65% of staff now recommend London Met as a good and compassionate place to work, a significant rise of 34% since 2017, the year before she joined – this is the Dobbs effect in numbers!
Under Lynn’s visionary leadership, London Met has evolved from a university within a community to an anchor institution at the heart of both our local and global communities
We now have almost 16,000 students studying London Met qualifications worldwide. It's wonderful to see so many of our global partners and students here today.
We are honoured to have partners present today from nearby, as well as from Germany, Spain, Singapore and North Macedonia. We also have students graduating from partners in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Ireland. Many others are celebrating graduations in their home countries.
Lynn has deepened our existing partnerships and built new ones, all dedicated to widening participation in education and creating opportunities for people from all backgrounds.
We’ve also responded to the needs of our community by introducing new areas of study, such as our School of the Built Environment and our nursing courses, that have been designed to address critical staff shortages in these fields. These programs will help create a pipeline of talented and diverse professionals, ready to serve London and beyond.
Colleagues describe Lynn as strategic, innovative, highly committed...but most of all relatable and caring. Fearless and fair, dogged and visionary. Lynn is known as a person who always listens, and then acts on what she hears.
During Lynn’s first meeting with colleagues in 2018 she told us ‘Happy staff equals happy students’. Lynn truly cares about colleagues, and this has been evident in the outstanding support she gave us during the pandemic; in her championing of our staff networks; and in the introduction of sector-leading maternity leave to name a few.
Lynn gave a huge boost to our research efforts. Without her, there wouldn't have been a submission to the REF2020, the UK-wide exercise which assesses the quality of our research, and we wouldn't have the strong research culture we have today.
To conclude, this award recognises Lynn’s outstanding and sustained contributions to the field of higher education leadership and social justice. Please join me in celebrating Professor Lynn Dobbs – someone who has campaigned for and championed our university’s commitment to staff and students here in London and across the globe.
Lynn’s retirement brings to a close an illustrious full-time career in higher education. Despite her numerous achievements, she has said that being in a position to help to develop others, and enhancing the profile of London Met, are the parts of her job that gave her the greatest satisfaction. "I had the opportunity to develop this university in a way I never could have imagined, it's incredible seeing the place blossom," she said.
Upon receiving her award, Professor Dobbs or as we call her, Lynn, will become one of a select group to have been recognised with this London Met E-meri-ta Lifetime Achievement Award. I am honoured to request Lynn stands to receive her award.
NOTE: Check against delivery
Emeritus Professor Lynn Dobbs receives her award for outstanding contribution to higher education on stage the Barbican.